[News-releases] New FCC Rules Threaten To Shut Out Women and Peopleof Color From Media Industry

NOW Press Office
202-628-8669 Rebecca Farmer, x 116
202-785-8576 (fax) 

New FCC Rules Threaten To Shut Out Women and People of Color From Media
Industry

June 4, 2003

"The National Organization for Women strongly opposes Monday's decision by
the Federal Communications Commission to re-write the rules governing media
ownership," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "This is just another gift to
huge conglomerates at the expense of local programming and diverse
viewpoints. By the time most people realize what has been taken from the
public trust, the consolidation will be complete and it will be too late to
undo the damage. Congress must act now to protect free speech and freedom
of expression. A.J. Liebling famously said, "freedom of the press is
limited to those who own one' -- and this level of consolidation
jeopardizes that cherished freedom in ways that would have been
unimaginable even 20 years ago." 

In a 3-2 vote, the FCC instituted "the most sweeping and destructive
rollback of consumer protection rules in the history of American
broadcasting," according to Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein, who voted
against the de-regulation. Of the six rules under review, the Republican
members of the FCC voted to maintain one rule, slightly modify another and
significantly relax four more. Most notably, a new version of the
cross-ownership rules will allow a single corporation to own, in one city,
up to three TV stations, one newspaper, eight radio stations, the cable TV
system and numerous cable stations. Also, a national TV network may now
acquire enough local stations to control up to 90 percent of the national
TV audience. The other dissenting commissioner, Michael J. Copps, stated
that the June 2 decision bestows upon media conglomerates "unacceptable
levels of influence over the ideas and information upon which our society
and our democracy so heavily depend." 

"Women and people of color already own less than five percent of broadcast
media outlets. Our media content is being filtered through five
profit-driven corporate giants that care first and foremost about their own
revenues and profit," said Gandy. "How much worse can it get? Much worse.
The new FCC rules threaten to shut out women and people of color from
top-level participation in the media industry and virtually eliminate local
programming. Furthermore, the free marketplace of ideas will suffer as the
already small number of independent voices in the media wither under
concentrated ownership." 

NOW has a long history of advocating for media diversity, recognizing its
importance to disseminating feminist viewpoints. "For years, NOW has been
communicating with the FCC and educating our members about the dangers of
media consolidation," said Gandy. 

At a final May 27 FCC meeting on the proposed de-regulation, NOW's Vice
President Terry O'Neill explained: "Women only won the right to vote in
1920. But that right is meaningless without exposure to a broad range of
information -- information that will let women know when their rights are
at risk and allow them to make informed decisions about their future and
the future of this country." 

NOW will continue to work to protect "the public interest" in media,
ostensibly the job of the FCC. "The people of the U.S. own the airwaves,"
said Gandy, "and we refuse to cede control to corporate interests." Gandy
points out that the FCC is establishing a Federal Advisory Committee to
explore opportunities for women and people of color in communication, and
NOW has offered to participate in that effort. 

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